December 28, 2014

I had such a nice response to my X-ing X's hat that I decided to write up the pattern. I wanted to reknit it to double-check my work. For the first hat I used leftover Wool-Ease from Christina's Katniss Cowl. I didn't have enough for a second hat so I used a darker gray skein of the same yarn from the same project. I cast on the same number of stitches on the same needles and knit the same hat and look at the results.

So...yeah. I checked the gauge and the first hat came out to 5 stitches per inch. Hat #2 is 4.5 stitches per inch! I thought the dark gray felt a bit thicker when I was knitting it but I never thought to stop and check my gauge because I assumed, incorrectly, that the same brand of yarn on the same needle would yield the same results.

December 26, 2014

I think today I reached the end of the internet. I discovered that there is a product that tracks the age* of the eggs in your refrigerator and wirelessly communicates that information to your smartphone.

I have...so many questions.

How often do people have eggs that go bad in their refrigerator?

If you don't use eggs often enough that they *do* go bad in your refrigerator, why would you invest in a device to help with this?

Isn't cheaper to just throw out the eggs?

Why eggs? A milk minder would be so much handier? Or a coffee minder!

How stupid are we?

Why?

How?

What the hell??

*It only keeps track of when you place the egg in the tray. Not the actual age of the egg. Not that it matters.

December 15, 2014

It's been a long time since I showed something that was in progress. I'm still in love with CustomFit and could not wait to start a relaxed fit, long cardigan in some Manos Wool Clasica I bought at my November retreat.
Wool Clasica has always been a favorite of mine. That's a skein of it right up there in my blog header. ^^^
I'm using the Flame colorway which refuses to be accurately photographed.

December 14, 2014

December 13, 2014

I've been asked by several people where I donate my hats. This year I gave them to Warm for Winter. A little checking in your own area through your LYSs, guilds or community services groups should turn up places to donate to people in need in your own community.

Here was this year's final pile.

I didn't even count how many hats were there. Let's just say it was an awful lot plus some scarves, cowls and one pair of mittens!

December 10, 2014

I just have to crow about this somewhere, why not here?
I got a $25 off coupon from Sephora. I ordered a Bobbi Brown Blush Brush that I've wanted for years that costs $52.
So, okay, $52-$25 = $27 plus tax. Pretty good deal.
Then I got a $25 gift certificate from Shopkick.
$52-$25-$25 = $2 plus tax. Grand total on order, $6.94. Go me!
But I also used Ebates and will get $2.08 cash back on my order.
$6.94-$2.08= $4.86 for my beautiful new brush.
Woohoo.

December 8, 2014

Pattern: Landscape Cowl by Cecily Glowik Macdonald
Yarn: Everything! I'll explain below.
Needles: US8
Notes: The day this pattern went up on Ravelry I bought and cast on. That never happens. But when I saw it I knew I wanted to use all my sport and DK scraps and make a "magic ball" and knit it with that. I took all my scraps--even the shortest lengths of yarn--and tied them end to end and wound them in a ball. At some points I felt like a single yarn had gone on too long so I would break it then join it in later,
I made a few unintentional changes to the pattern. In the first lace repeat I only did one pattern row before jumping back to the garter stitch. I didn’t want to take it all out so I forged on. I also just the final garter section short because I didn’t have enough yarn.

Notes: For this sweater I wanted "boyfriend" sweater look. The two accent colors I had weren't strong enough for colorwork and I was worried about running out of Charcoal. I opted for a 20 row stripe pattern (2 B, 8 A, 2 C, 8 A) and choose to knit the body in one piece to minimize seaming the stripes. I also drove myself nuts trying to make the stripes on the sleeves match the body stripes. They line up perfectly even up through the sleeve cap. (I didn't manage to get a decent photo of this so you'll have to take my word.) I had so many ends to weave in but I really love the subtle striped look.

December 6, 2014

Way back in October when I went to Imperial Stock we did some "game knitting" on the bus on our way there and back. We had a list of triggers, things we'd see as we drove. When we spotted one, we'd shout it out then do an action in our knitting.

I chose to cast on about 200 stitches in some crazy, candy cane, barber pole handspun and knit in 2x2 rib. My action was to travel 2 knit stitches, usually to the left but sometimes not (dependiing on my mood and what was already going on in my knitting). About 2 hours into our trip I realized I had twisted my cast on. Oh well. it was now a moebius (actually not a true moebius, a twisted cast on results in a full twist in your knitting and not the half-twist that creates a true moebius). I continued knitting, shouting out when we passed orange cars, crossed bridges and spotted cows.

At some point I realized that I had put down my knitting, picked it back up and began knitting in the wrong direction. I'm supposed to be a pretty good knitter, right? Oh man. It was an easy mistake to make since I was trying not to look at my knitting since that makes me motion sick and my knitting was all irregular ribbing which made the inside and outside of the cowl look pretty much the same. So I carried on, it's now a fully reversible cowl. Yeah, that's it.

I cast off the last stitch just minutes before arriving back in Seattle. I thought the cowl would be a humorous souvenir of the trip but it's actually a fantastic cowl to wear. I can double it up and wear it snug against my neck without feeling choked. I wear it as a loop. I can even pull it down over my shoulders. Love this thing!

December 5, 2014

I have the most wonderful hairdresser. Over ten years ago, one night at knitting, a fellow Purlygirl mentioned that she had found someone who excelled at cutting her curly/wavy hair. If you have curly hair you know how difficult it is to find someone who understands how to properly cut it. I took her recommendation and meet Christina and she's still my hairdresser today.

A few visits ago she saw me knitting and asked if I could make a cowl like Katniss wears in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. I said sure I could. The next time I saw her she asked if I had knit her cowl. Uhhh. I thought we were having a theoretical conversation.

When I went to Fort Worden I grabbed up several skeins of Wool-Ease in two shades of gray and a some Patons Canadiana, also in gray, at the stash sale. I tried to knit The Huntress Cowl but my gauge was completely different plus I was not going to do the whole rope-inside-the-neckline thing. So I began winging it. I moved up to size US36 (20mm) with four strands of the worsted yarn. I then knit the two triangles from the original pattern. Or so I thought. I wasn't paying attention and didn't do my knits through the back loops for the herringbone so instead I got...something different. I was not going back so I forged onward. I picked up along one triangle edge, cast on some stitches (five, I think), picked up along triangle two, cast on and joined in the round. I then knit the herringbone stitch (got it right this time, yay me) for 7-8 rounds. I threw in some decreases at the end to bring the neck in a little. I was aiming for less authentic but more wearable. I then switched to much smaller needles. I though they were 13s but they may have been 11s. (Don't you love how careful with my note-taking I was?) I knit welts of reverse stockinette and stockinette. I bound off then crocheted a bit of the bottom of the long sides of the triangles and did a smidge of neatening and I was done.

I tried it on for some people at Purlygirls and the Knitters Guild and they all struggled to find kind but non-committal things to say. I pointed out repeatedly that Christina is both much taller than I am and much narrower.

I went in for a haircut today and presented her with her cowl. She put it on immediately and proclaimed that she loved it.